Osmar Olvera (Mexico City, 20 years old) stretches his arms upwards in a pointed position. A tenacious woman corrects his posture, right at the edge of the pool. It is the legendary Ma Jin, a Chinese coach who has been trying to make Mexico’s divers of the future flourish since 2003. She had Rommel Pacheco, Paola Espinosa and Jahir Ocampo under her tutelage. Now it is the turn of the young Olvera, with the face of a boy on the honor roll at school and the body of a Roman gladiator.
The diver has the strong card of being a world champion. Last February, the Mexican emerged victorious from the pool by taking first place in the individual springboard event. Before that, in another competition in Fukuoka, Japan, he won two silver medals. And a few months ago, at the Pan American Games, he took the American crown by winning two gold medals as a soloist from the one-meter and three-meter high springboard, and the third with his partner Rodrigo Diego. The successes, to a large extent, have been guided by the Chinese Ma Jin. But to reach the top, Osmar Olvera had to chip away.
The diver, who as soon as he learned to swim looked for a way to dive into the water, looked for his place in various sports until he found diving. He already had his first instinct: not to be afraid of water or heights. Then he put himself under the orders of Ma Jin, who was demanding with his pupils. He came to Mexico for a season and was fascinated by the talents of Rommel Pacheco (also a gold medal winner at a World Championship) and Paola Espinosa, a two-time Olympic medalist.
So, Osmar Olvera had to compete in front of the world at the age of 12, in a tournament in Russia. His debut ended with a fifth place. At the age of 15, he won his first medal, a bronze, in a competition in Canada. His good form allowed him to compete in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo. His star faded in the semi-final round from the three-meter springboard. The best version of the diver, so far, is intended to measure his growth.
Olvera’s moments of glory, however, were overshadowed because Ma Jin could not travel with him due to a problem between the Swimming Federation and Conade. Olvera expressed his absolute annoyance and, finally, the Mexican authorities unblocked the bureaucratic mess. “I am very happy because he is going to attend the most important competition of my life with me, we are preparing to obtain the best result and return home with a medal,” said the diver. “I love this country and I want to continue giving it a lot of benefits.” [a México] good achievements,” the coach added last May.
Olvera’s calm demeanor hides the athlete’s rebellious side. Over the past two years, aquatic athletes have had to fend for themselves because the president of the swimming federation, Kiril Todorov, was accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of embezzling 155 million pesos. Todorov was left out and without a head, the fate of the competitors was left in the hands of the international organization, World Aquatics, which was dedicated to managing the resources. This caused anger at Ana Gabriela Guevara’s Conade, which refused to give scholarships to each of them.
When Olvera rose to prominence in Doha, Conade congratulated him with a message on social media. The diver was elegant: “Thank you, all I need is the scholarship for a year and we are fully booked.” His reproach was echoed among his colleagues who had to resort to sponsors, sell clothing or open an OnlyFans. Olvera wants to hit the table in Paris, to vindicate his colleagues, so that they stop being collateral victims of the bureaucratic war.
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